Publisher's Description

Winner of 2014 INSPY Award for General Fiction!ECPA 2014 Christian Book Award Finalist!From the best-selling author of Crossing Oceans comes a heartrending yet uplifting story of friendship and redemption. On the cusp of adulthood, eighteen-year-old Penny Carson is swept off her feet by a handsome farmhand with a confident swagger. Though Trent Taylor seems like Prince Charming and offers an escape from her one-stop-sign town, Pennys happily-ever-after lasts no longer than their breakneck courtship. Before the ink even dries on their marriage certificate, he hits her for the first time. It isnt the last, yet the bruises that cant be seen are the most painful of all.

When Trent is injured in a welding accident and his paycheck stops, he has no choice but to finally allow Penny to take a job cleaning houses. Here she meets two women from very different worlds who will teach her to live and laugh again, and lend her their backbones just long enough for her to find her own.

Wings of Glass is a fabulous read! It deals quite a bit of heavy issues. But they are real and I admire the author tackling them in this book. This is the reason why Gina Holmes is one of my favorite authors. She has the talent to write real stories, issues and emotions.

This is a well written book on the subject of spousal abuse. The story is about a married couple who are very much in love but the husband is very possessive and abusive. His wife tolerates the abuse thinking things will change in the future. I highly recommend this book for anyone but especially for those contemplating marriage. Gina Holmes is an excellent author.

Penny is a woman who is used to being poor. Growing up, her parents never had much to offer her. But then she meets Trent, and he is more than a chance to get away from the poverty and abuse of her childhood. Feeling as worthless as her name con-notates, she sees him as an opportunity for love and true happiness. But something she never expected was the beatings of an angry husband who drunk away what little money they did manage to bring in.

When Trent has an accident at work that puts him out of commission, Penny meets some gals at the local food bank that offer her a job cleaning houses. Thrilled at the opportunity to prove her own merit and worth as a person, she is crushed when something comes up that will keep her from permanently enjoying her new freedom. Suddenly, everything changes. She's not just watching out for herself anymore, and Trent's abuse becomes dangerous not only to herself, but others as well. When will it become too much? Will she ever truly be brave enough to stand on her own two feet?

Holmes takes a very sensitive subject, and portrays both sides of the abuse with grace and fairness. She realistically weaves a spell that is grounded in truth, and gives us a peek of what might go on in a marriage littered with abuse of many kinds. I loved the way the author was very frank, honest, and gracious in the way she portrayed Trent; while not making Penny to be a martyr, but a victim of circumstances. Recommended to anyone that either needs the courage to grow wings and fly, or for those who are already free.

This book was provided for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The author handles serious issues delicately but truthfully. I do not know why the very touching scenes did not have me reaching for the tissues, but it could be just where I am today. I have had other stories bring me to tears. This one describes accurately the wife's pain, heartache, confusion, and her reaching for help from God. I recognize the husband's anger, manipulation, denial, and even pouring on the charm and promising it will get better. I like Fatimah and Callie Mae and their sincere friendship. They said what needed to be said. I also sympathize with the difficulty of reconciling the belief in "'til death do us part" with the need to protect oneself, and especially, the baby. Something about the book seemed to keep me from being totally drawn in emotionally; maybe the predictable plot. Maybe it was the ease with which Penny seems to recognize the reasons for her own behavior, not something I could ever do. Possibly Penny just was not a character I felt connected to. Even so, it was quite real, sad, even tense, and well written.